Annual conference 2006

There was a reason for celebrating in the Willy Brandt Center in Jerusalem. During the conference the partner organizations Partnerorganisationen Tse’irei Meretz, Schabibet, Mischmeret Tse’irah and Jusos could look back on a year filled with a lot of successful projects. The IUSY Festival in Alicante, the celebrations of the WBC`s 10-years anniversary in Berlin and the "Willy-Seminar" with Jusos from Bonn and Muenster mark a special year for the Center. But the Highlight itself was the Annual Conference, where Heike Kratt, director of the WBC, could welcome very special guests.

The SPD General Secretary Hubertus Heil, Chair of Meretz Yossi Beilin and the Palestinian vice minister of foreign relations Ahmed Soboh discussed together with Juso-chair Bjoern Boehning and the heads of the other youth organizations about the subject "Parties and societies - alienated comrades?". Following the conference, the partner organizations presented their new Action Plan for 2007-2008. Therein all the partners admit to a peaceful conflict solution and to the necessity of direct encounters between all the parties involved. Only who cognizes and recognizes the realties of the living circumstances of all sides is able to overcome ignorance, hatred and violence.

The values of the social democracy head the agreed projects in the Action Plan: To fulfill gender justice, to fight against racism and anti-Semitism, to broach the issue of poverty and diversity and primarily to fight for a nonviolent solution of the Middle-East conflict are the political aims of the oncoming years.